Source Description

Founded in 1893, the Israelite-Humanitarian Women’s
AssociationIsraelitisch-humanitärer
Frauenverein advocated for women’s rights
as well as social policy issues in Hamburg and explicitly
addressed a Jewish audience. The source presented here is a printed copy of the
association’s by-laws of March 19, 1911, printed
in 1912 by Martin
Philipsen’s printing office in Hamburg. Set in Gothic
print, the document is twelve pages long and divided into 18 paragraphs stating
the following: name and location of the association, its purpose, questions of
membership and membership fees, as well as organizational structure. This last
point includes provisions on the fiscal year, the board, the administrative
committee, reporting and accounting, general meetings, changes to the by-laws,
and dissolution of the association. The reason for this reprint of the by-laws
was the association’s inclusion in the city of Hamburg’s register of
associations on March 28, 1911. 18 years after
its inception, this Jewish women’s association had achieved its goal to be officially
anchored in the community’s public life. The meaning this step carried becomes
evident by the fact that the official confirmation of inclusion is printed at
the end of the by-laws.